Library For Three
by Leni
Summary: When it's only the Scoobies at the library. Old School Buffy&Willow&Xander story.


_**DISCLAIMER:** Not even as a birthday present. pouts  
**SUMMARY:** Three friends at the library. If there's anything like friendship-fluff, this is it. With B/A W/X and the bittiest bit of C/X thrown in.  
**TIMELINE:** Somewhere after WML but before S/I (yes, one of those ones. G I'm obsessed.)  
**FEEDBACK:** insert puppy-eyes sequence  
**THANK YOU** to Dana and Faithgirl for the beta. smooches them I changed some lines at last minute, so chalk all mistakes on me. ;)_

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**LIBRARY FOR THREE**

_by Leni_

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_Xander gaped. 

Buffy smirked.

Willow stared at Buffy with a mixture of awe and fear, for about a second. Then she began snickering at Xander's surprise, louder and harder, until the only thing that made her consider stopping was her friend's glare. "Sorry, Xander," she apologized between barely contained giggles. "But you really asked for it this time."

Xander glowered and crossed his arms over his chest petulantly. "I won't do it."

"But you promised," Buffy reminded him, still grinning.

"I'm being serious, Buffy!"

"So am I." She pointed at the items spread on the table. "Or what? Do you think I don't have to do this, too?"

Xander floundered at that. Knowing he would receive no mercy from that camp, he turned to Willow for help. Unknown to him, Willow steeled herself against that look and once she could control her natural reaction to it, shrugged, wordlessly siding with Buffy.

Xander glanced between his friends, making a doomed stand as he hopelessly looked for any of them to back down. Neither did. Knowing himself defeated, he turned around with an annoyed huff and stormed towards Giles' office for the necessary supplies.

Willow waited until her best friend was out of earshot to nudge Buffy. "That was really evil," she said, her smile denying every hint of reproach in her voice.

Buffy's grin, which hadn't lessened during the exchange, widened considerably. "Wasn't it?"

Willow listened to the loud search inside the small office. Yes, Xander was mad and wanted to show it. Then she remembered the owner - or caretaker, since the library was actually the school's property – of the place and winced. "Don't you think Giles will be upset?"

Buffy contemplated the idea, but immediately relaxed. "He doesn't have a reason to," she answered, a smile still edging her lips. "He asked just for the job to get done, and it will. I really don't think he'd concern himself with the details. And besides…" She shared a mischievous look with Willow. "Who'd tell him?"

Willow laughed at that. "I said it before. That's evil and cunning too." She leaned towards the blonde with a mock serious expression. "You sure you aren't working for the wrong side?"

Buffy's lips lifted. "With Giles as my Watcher? Suuuuuure…"

"Good point. Well, now you're the owner of a night for yourself, want to watch a movie?"

Buffy turned toward her apologetically. "Actually..."

"You're plan-having already?"

Buffy's face brightened and her smile softened. "Well, yeah."

Willow smiled, noticing when her friend began looking at something only she could see. To be in such a lovely relationship, how delightful it must be. "Tell him I said hi."

Buffy didn't react.

Willow's eyes rolled slightly. "Buffy?"

Nothing.

"Earth to Buffy?" She counted to five. "Buffy!" She poked her friend back into reality.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, nothing." Willow shook her head at the other girl's still slightly dazed appearance. The rules of friendship said that Buffy should be teased relentlessly until she confessed what had had her in such a dreamy state. But with Xander just a couple feet away anything Angel-related, especially in the romantic-with-Buffy sense, would be dangerous to bring up. As if to prove her right, a loud noise came from inside the office, followed by Xander's yelp and a louder string of curses against tall, unstable piles of books. No, definitely not a good time to mention Angel. But her friend's complaints also gave her excuse to change tracks. "Poor Xander. He's gonna regret this night for a long, long time."

Buffy cocked an eyebrow knowingly, her amused expression silently communicating that she'd guessed why Willow was suddenly raising so many objections.

Willow blushed. "Shut up!" she whispered hurriedly, eyeing the office's door.

Buffy's finger obediently made a zipping motion over her lips, but the slight smirk betrayed her.

"It's not that!" Willow defended. "Really."

Buffy's teasing ceased and she patted her friend's hand encouragingly. "I know, Will. You just hang in there; sooner or later he'll see you want things to change."

Willow looked sadly in Xander's direction. "He thinks I'm pulling away. Am I overdoing it?" Before Buffy could calm her, the redhead continued revealing her worries, her eyes widening as she continued. "What if I am? He'll think I don't want to be friends anymore. That's it. The whole night he's been focusing on you, that's why we're in this to begin with. Now he'll concentrate on you only and he'll go everywhere with you and forget I ever existed."

Buffy's hand clamped around her wrist. "Will, breathe. He just spent an hour discussing the evil of Snyder with you. And he'll never follow me everywhere because he knows I'll hit him." She paused, smirked. "Or Angel will."

Willow chuckled at the small joke, and then wondered if it _was_ a joke.

"You are not overdoing it," Buffy continued, and in an even lower voice. "If there's anything you and Xander need is distance. Half the school already thinks of you as a couple."

"And the other half don't know we exist," Willow supplied, finally relaxing. There was just one more doubt to clear now. "You don't think he'll meet someone new, do you?"

Buffy chortled outright. "When and where? The three of us go from class to the library. You're both around even when I train! Besides…" Her eyes twinkled merrily at the thought. "Even if he meets someone not of the homicidal demon variety, we'd see her coming a mile away. Dear old Xander can't keep a secret from his best buddies, can he?" She winked conspirationally. "Don't worry. At least tonight he'll have no chance of meeting anyone, much less a girl."

Willow smiled gratefully; she pushed the subject aside. Enough Xander-moping for the day, she decided.

"Ouch!" Several thumps came from the office. "Ewww…This isn't fair!"

Willow bit her lip, trying not to laugh. "Seriously. Don't you feel the littlest bit guilty for making him do this?" She nodded at the various objects on the table.

Buffy's face registered surprise; she even fluttered her eyelashes in fake innocence. "Why would I? He offered." Willow let out a laugh at that. The girls' eyes met and both grinned simultaneously. "Kinda," Buffy finished the sentence.

Silence. One moment of repressed laughter. Then both broke into giggles.

What finally stopped their glee was their friend's obviously unamused presence. Xander stomped back to them, carrying a clean cloth and a bottle in his hands.

"That man is crazy. Crazy!" he told them incredously. "Move a book to the left and Giles will explode. But try to look for anything without an author and centuries-old pages and you have to send out a search party!" He passed a hand through his hair. What came out, sticking to his fingers, made the girls cringe and take an instinctive step back. They really hoped it was just grease. Xander winced at the sight and cleaned his fingers on the cloth. "This is nuts," he groused. "Don't they teach to put on lids in England?"

"He's been distracted lately," Willow offered.

"Then maybe Miss Calendar should teach him," Xander bit out. His fingers hovered an inch above his hair, as if afraid to touch it.

Buffy couldn't help herself; she laughed.

Xander's head whipped around, glaring at her. Where his expression was usually kind and silly, with the occasional mark fo annoyance, right now Alexander Lavelle Harris was truly mad, and without speaking he was telling Buffy that he considered her the root of his current torment.

The worst thing, Buffy reflected helplessly, was that after her confrontations against diverse monsters, her friend barely managed to rate as a wet kitten. She took a deep breath, trying to act seriously despite her thoughts. It didn't work. Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle the laughter, and she actually bit into her fingers to control herself.

"Look on the bright side," Willow said in a desperate attempt to distract the boy and diffuse the situation. "Now you'll have something to hold over Giles."

Xander stared at Willow for a second, shrugged and, with his lower lip still sticking out, dropped into a chair.

"It's not fair."

"It's not the end of the world, Xand," Buffy consoled him sincerely, her bout of mirth finally over."It's actually kind of fun."

"Really?"

Buffy realized it wasn't. "Yeah?" she mumbled while she decided to check her nails. A thud made her raise her head again. It was Xander, his forehead now in familiar terms with the table's surface, while, inches above it, his fingers tapped agaist the wood moodily. "I'm doomed." His voice carried about the unseen pout. "You'll stay with me at least. Right?"

Buffy opened her mouth.

"Not you, Buff." He straightened in the chair and cocked his head to the left. "I'm actually amazed you're still here." Then he noticed that the grease from his hair had stained his sleeves, glared at the blonde accusingly and added waspishly. "Oh, right, I'd forgotten. Your boyfriend doesn't function until sundown."

"Xander!" Willow protested.

"It's okay, Wills," Buffy said, her voice colder that it had been all day. She turned away from Xander to face Willow fully. "Xander's right anyway. I'm already gone."

Willow frowned, having watched both her friends' features harden briefly during the exchange, and took Buffy's elbow. "Wait, please." She wanted to sigh. Talk about sore points. It went beyond Xander's earlier crush and Buffy's own insecurities about her relationship. Add Xander's current mood and, voilá, volatile situation. Vampires, evil robots and random growlies, Buffy could handle effortlessly. But Xander's particular brand of cruelty? Childish and thoughtless as it was, the blonde didn't know how to deal with it. Mostly she tried to go around it. Simply put, Buffy hadn't grown up with it. Willow finally settled on giving a disaproving look to Xander, who merely lifted his shoulders and looked down, before appealing to her aggravated friend again. "Just a second, I'll go with you."

Xander turned to her at that. "Willow? You're abandoning me, too?" He looked at his oldest friend pleadingly, his brown eyes begging for another chance.

Willow had to remind herself that she was angry at him on Buffy's behalf. But a lifetime at his side also told her that, as mean as he could get, Xander rarely meant ill with his comments. He just lashed out at the littlest provocation, and Willow knew he had good reason to. Besides, there was that love thing that forbade her to leave him on his own when he was asking for her company. She was about to take back her words and stay when a timely nudge reminded her that, even if she weren't mad, some distance would benefit her hopes for a more serious relationship.

"I would, Xander. You know that. But…" Of course, now was the wrong time to remember that she was a terrible liar. Willow was scrabbling for a plausible excuse when Xander smiled at her and shook his head in resignation.

"That Chemistry test. Right, I'd forgotten about that," he told her, unaware that he was supplying her with the needed pretext. "Just don't forget that you promised to cram together tomorrow. Chem will kill me if you don't help me, Wills." He sighed at the prospect of a lonely night, but tried a small smile for his redheaded friend anyway.

Willow had the hardest time making as if she didn't notice the sadness underlying his words. But this was for the better. Right? "Anything for a friend in danger." She nodded, mentally crossing her fingers for his obvious discomfort at her absence being a good sign.

Buffy stepped into the conversation. "Leave them shiny and sparkly. Like a mirror!" she told Xander, a small grin back on her face. She'd decided to forget their disagreement for the moment. It wasn't as if he would hear her out this time. More brightly: "Otherwise Giles will never shut up."

Xander answered her attempt to lift the mood with a: "Does he ever?"

Buffy laughed.

Willow followed, more at ease now that her best friends were on good terms again. But then, it was always like that. Xander screwed up; Buffy forgave him. It wasn't a healthy method, but it worked. She willfully ignored the 'for now' following that thought; they'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

"Go, go! Leave a man to do his job," Xander sent them off.

Buffy and Willow looked at each other. "Look whose cries suddenly stopped," the blonde said, amused.

"One – there was no crying."

"Thankfully," Willow teased.

Xander glowered but didn't answer, still addressing Buffy. "Two – I've just realized that you needed the best for a job well done." He pointed to himself and used his free hand to open the bottle.

The three of them wrinkled their noses at the strong smell.

"You'd think it'd get better with time," Buffy muttered. She noticed Xander opening his mouth in what she knew would be a new – and louder – complaint. "Well, goodnight!" she hurried to interrupt him. "There's a long, warm night awaiting this Slayer." She grinned to herself, planning the best way to ambush her boyfriend into a movie and completely unaware of Willow and Xander staring after her as she practically skipped out of the library.

"And I'm going with her," Willow said. "Have fun!" she threw over her shoulder before following after her friend.

"Har, har," came Xander's dry reply.

He watched his friends leave. Once they were out of sight, he glared down at the cloth in his hand and poured some of the bottle's contents on it. The smell was bothering him less but it still was very irritating. How had he gotten into this? Oh right. Now he remembered Buffy's earlier words. "Clean weapons are very important for a Slayer's work," he mimicked the blonde.

Passing the wet cloth experimentally over a sword, Xander tried not to think of anything that could have been cut, sliced, beheaded or eviscerated with it. Of course, the only thing he could see now what that time Buffy had missed a strike and poked a Luith in the eye instead. Ew. Eyeball goo. And this had been the lucky sword, Xander remembered clearly now. The line of his lips lowered in distaste, but he obstinately rubbed the sword again.

"Because weapon cleaning is so important," he mumbled to himself. "Right. She just wanted a free night with Angel." His hand loosened its grasp on the sword and it dropped against the floor; the clash reverberated across the room. "Oops." He retrieved it, poured more liquid on the rag and began again.

He couldn't blame Buffy. Not that she ever told him anything directly, but from the little Willow let out, she and Angel were in real need of 'alone' time. Lately it'd been only patrols, cemeteries and mutual life-saving, what kind of relationship was that? The way he figured it, the least Buffy deserved was a normal - real - date. Not with him, no. Xander recognized a closed door when he saw one. But at school he'd overheard several guys mention that they'd date Buffy if she showed the slightest interest. They weren't the best guys ever, but, still. That showed that she didn't have to settle for that mockery of a relationship.

Except that she wasn't 'settling'. Xander rubbed harder, not stopping until he could see his reflection on the metal. Willow was right. Buffy's eyes shone when Angel was mentioned and you could always tell when she was thinking of the vampire by the smile teasing her lips. He was stubborn, not blind; he could admit the obvious. If the Drusilla thing hadn't dissuaded Buffy, nothing would.

'Some guys just have all the luck,' he thought, allowing himself a moment of jealousy. This time not so jealousy of their relationship, but mostly for that security Angel enjoyed. He had to know how Buffy felt (and if he didn't and broke her heart, Xander considered himself in the right to kill the bastard. Slowly.) Xander himself had none of that luck. So maybe he was projecting his own hopes on Angel. He had good reason to be wishing for that kind of reliability, Xander thought as he glowered at the gleaming sword and added it to the 'finished' pile. The females around him went nuts on sight. All of them.

The affair with Cordelia had him confused. Even Willow was pulling away, constantly running hot and cold on him. She, whose friendship he'd have sworn he could count on, despite that old crush he'd killed during the Hyena incident. Lately she was acting just like Cordelia. Except without the kissing. How he'd like to know where he stood with them and not wonder whether to hug and protect them or run for cover. "Some guys have all the luck," he repeated in a whisper. Only the sound of the cloth against a smaller sword answered him. He chuckled at himself. "And some talk to themselves in empty libraries."

Xander sighed, putting aside the weapon and grabbing a new one. He glanced at the rest of the unfinished work: the different swords and daggers, the one crossbow and its arrows… "It's going to be a long night, Harris." He should have never boasted that he could do anything Buffy did for training. He'd meant the fighting, not the menial work! And, despite his earlier words, he'd never expected to be taken seriously!

Sometimes his mouth got him in more trouble than it was worth. First this, and then that little spat with Buffy. He knew better than to attack Angel in front of his friend, but the phrase hadn't checked in with his brain before it was out of his mouth. A flaw, he knew it. But, seriously, a Scoobie night thrown away for a date? And making Willow side with her? Wasn't that against all things Friendship stood for?

Xander was pulled out of his commiserating musings by the dagger he was holding now. He groaned. This one he recognized, too. How could he not when he'd used it to disable some tentacled monsters last week? He shook the image out of his head and tried to think of something nice instead.

Nice. Like… Chocolate!

Chocolate.

Chocolate pudding. Chocolate ice cream. Chocolate cake. Chocolate cookies…

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Buffy asked when they'd left the school grounds.

Willow shook her head and pointed around them. "Still daylight, no worries." Buffy raised her eyebrows and the redhead hesitated. "Okay, yes worries. I'd appreciate it."

"Just be careful when you come back later."

"Okay." Willow did a double take. "What?"

Buffy smirked. "You'll come back, with cookies and your Chemistry notes. I bet you already chose the flavor."

"What. No!"

Buffy cocked her head and waited out her friend.

Willow capitulated with a sheepish smile. "Chocolate. And maybe some donuts."

Buffy nodded and took the redhead's arm in hers, quickening their step. If she arrived at Angel's after sunset it'd be all patrol and no play. She hadn't just crossed the boundaries of friendship for another normal night. But, for now, she could focus on Willow. "It's okay. You've made your point, didn't stay when he expected you to. That doesn't mean you can't come over later, surprise him, have a nice night…" She grinned privately when Willow blushed, and unconsciously accelerated a little more when she noticed the sun's position. "Just make sure you don't leave crumbs around or Giles _will _have a fit."

Willow snickered, or tried to between heavy breaths. She squeezed Buffy's arm to make her stop. "I'll be safe from here. Go, Buffy, before you start dragging me along the sidewalk."

Buffy smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's just…."

"I know. Angel." Willow smiled back and playfully pushed her friend away. "As long as you give me the juicy details tomorrow."

"Willow!" Buffy, who'd prepared to sprint away, stopped at those words, more amused than scandalized.

Willow just winked at her in response. "Have fun," she amended, still grinning.

"I will."

The redhead shook her head amusedly, watching as her friend quickly disappeared from view. Give Buffy a free night with Angel and the girl was quick to forget Xander's slips and act like the lovestruck schoolgirl she wasn't. Willow grinned and headed home. She had chocolate cookies to scare up.

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**The End**  
23/05/05

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